Packaging machine

ABSTRACT

A packaging machine has a machine region and a production region which are separated by a partition. The partition has openings for components which project from the machine region into the production region. In accordance with the invention, the partition is formed from one single plate which has several blind holes on its side facing the machine region, whose closed bottom can be removed to form openings. The bottom on the side facing the production region forms a smooth, continuous, depression-free surface with the adjoining regions of the surface of the plate.

The invention concerns a packaging machine having a machine region and a production region which are separated by a partition, wherein the partition has openings for components which project from the machine region into the production region.

In a packaging machine, in particular a so-called blister packaging machine, the production or packaging region is separated, for hygienic and safety reasons, from the machine region via a partition. However, certain components, e.g. driving instruments, must pass from the machine region through the partition into the production region. For this reason, the partition has openings or through-holes at appropriately prepared locations.

A conventional packaging machine is equipped and adjusted to the customer requirements. In consequence thereof, the number and arrangement of the openings are customer-specific and change depending on the manner in which the packaging machine is used. In order to avoid the need for individual design of the openings for each customer, a plurality of openings are conventionally prepared in the partition, which can be opened in dependence on the customer's requirements. Towards this end, DE 198 59 060 A1 describes a two-layered partition which is formed by a base plate and a protective plate which are disposed on top of each other and are interconnected, e.g. glued. The base plate has a plurality of openings which cover all possible customer requirements. The protective plate has perforations corresponding to the position and shape of the openings of the base plate, which permit opening of the protective plate at the desired locations thereby forming a continuous opening in the partition.

Disadvantageously, the preparation and joining of the plates for such a two-layered partition structure is demanding and expensive. Moreover, dirt particles can deposit in the perforations of the protective plate and can be removed only with great expense. Such cleaning is, however, necessary for hygienic reasons, in particular in case of product change.

It is therefore the underlying purpose of the invention to provide a packaging machine of the mentioned type, wherein the number and position of the openings can be easily adjusted to the requirements of the customer while largely preventing the accumulation of dirt particles in the partition.

This object is achieved in accordance with the invention with a packaging machine of the above-mentioned type in that the partition is formed by one single plate which has several blind holes on its side facing the machine region, wherein closed bottoms of the blind holes can be removed to form further openings.

The invention is based on the fundamental idea of forming the partition from only one single plate which can therefore be designed in a simple and inexpensive manner. The plate forming the partition is prepared for the openings by forming a plurality of blind holes corresponding to the position and size of the openings in the plate at the side facing the machine region. Each blind hole nearly extends to the side of the plate facing the production region. A closed thin bottom remains such that the surface of the plate facing the production region shows no depressions or perforations in which dirt could accumulate.

The blind holes can be prefabricated in the plate with high precision on appropriate processing machines before assembly of the packaging machine. Assembly of the packaging machine merely requires opening of some of the blind holes in correspondence with the customer requirements concerning the design of the packaging machine, by drilling or pushing out the bottom. In particular, for drilling, the walls of the blind hole provide good guidance for opening the bottom and the resulting opening is located at the desired position with high accuracy.

The blind holes which are not opened during assembly of the packaging machine are not visible from the side of the plate facing the production region and the bottom on the side facing the production region forms a smooth, continuous, depression-free surface with the adjacent regions of the plate surface.

The bottom wall should be sufficiently thin that it can be easily removed at a later time. The wall thickness should, however, not be excessively low to prevent deformations of the bottom due to thermal or slight mechanical loads and, in particular, to prevent the bottom from being inadvertently penetrated during assembly of the packaging machine. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the bottom wall has a thickness in the region of 1 mm to 3 mm and in particular 1 mm to 2 mm. The plate forming the partition, which preferably consists of aluminum or special steel, preferably has an overall wall thickness in the region between 20 mm and 30 mm, and in particular 25 mm to 30 m.

Further details and features of the invention can be extracted from the following description of an embodiment with reference to the drawing, wherein the single FIGURE shows a detail vertical section through a partition of a packaging machine.

The FIGURE shows a partition 10 which consists of aluminum or special steel and is formed by one single plate 11. The partition 10 separates a machine region M from a production region P and has a plurality of blind holes 13 on its side facing the machine region M, of which only one is shown. The blind hole 13 extends from the surface 11 b of the plate 11 facing the machine region M to the vicinity of the surface 11 a of the plate facing the production region P, thereby leaving a closed bottom 14 such that, in the initial state, the plate 11 has a smooth, continuous, depression-free surface on the surface 11 a facing the production region P. The wall thickness of the bottom 14 is in the range between 1 mm and 2 mm.

When the plate 11 comprising the blind holes 13 is installed into the packaging machine, some of the blind holes 13 must be opened to receive components, e.g. a drive shaft 15 passing from the machine region M through the plate 11 and into the production region P. The bottom 14 may be opened e.g. using a striking tool 16 which is inserted into the blind hole 13 from the side facing the machine region M, and drills out the bottom 14 to form an opening 12 which completely penetrates through the plate 11. The drive shaft 15 may penetrate the plate 11 at such an opening, as is shown in the FIGURE.

Those blind holes 13 which must not be opened to conform to the customer requirements, still form a smooth, continuous, depression-free surface with the adjacent regions of the surface 11 a of the plate 11 in the region of their bottom 14 on the side facing the production region P to prevent accumulation of dirt particles during operation of the packaging machine.

If the customer wishes later modification of the packaging machine, the corresponding blind holes 14 can be opened or be drilled open directly on site without having to remove the plate 11. 

1-4. (canceled)
 5. A packaging machine comprising: machine components disposed in a machine region; production components disposed in a production region; at least one intermediate component passing from said machine region into said production region; and a partition having at least one through hole through which said intermediate component passes, said partition consisting essentially of one single plate having a plurality of blind holes, said blind holes having openings facing said machine region, said blind holes having bottoms which can be removed to form further through holes.
 6. The packaging of claim 5, wherein said bottoms form a smooth, continuous, depression-free surface together with adjoining regions of said plate on a side thereof facing said production region.
 7. The packaging of claim 5, wherein said bottoms have a wall thickness in a region of 1 mm to 3 mm.
 8. The packaging machine of claim 7, wherein said wall thickness region is between 1 mm to 2 mm.
 9. The packaging machine of claim 5, wherein said plate consists essentially of aluminum.
 10. The packaging machine of claim 5, wherein said plate consists essentially of stainless steel. 